More Well Liked Than You Can Possibly Imagine

Big Shiny Robot posted an interesting piece on why The Prequels Are More Well Liked Than You Can Possibly Imagine. Of course, nerd nation can’t let that slip by without their showing up to barf on the floor, but what else would you expect?

Mustafar Blu-Ray Clip

starwars.com’s YouTube account posted a preview of the last part of the Mustafar duel from ROTS. See Obi-Wan take the high ground in HD!

New Interview With Dave Filoni

IGN has a new interview with Dave Filoni on all things Clone Wars Season Four! Just three weeks to go…

Intellectual Dishonesty: A Commentary

Someone on my Twitter feed had retweeted a post on some sf/geek site or other on five ways the prequels were great and five awful things about Eps IV-VI. Now right off the bat, I don’t think it’s necessary or even desirable to put one trilogy down to make the other one look better. But it’s become ridiculous how many prequel detractors put treat the “originals” like “The Godfather” and the prequels like “The Room.” Every criticism leveled at the prequels was also leveled at the first set of movies as well. I figured the post was in the spirit of removing the mote in one trilogy’s eye before pointing out perceived flaws in the other, so I checked it out.

The author lost me when very early on he says, “The prequels suck.” He bashes the films before moving on to the five great things about them.

The only redeeming value a bad movie might have is if it’s so bad, it’s funny. Nothing, or close to nothing, goes right with a truly bad movie: not the direction, not the script, not the cinematography, not the acting. If it doesn’t offer the kitschy, ironic charms of a “Plan 9 From Outer Space” or the kind of fare on MST3K, it can be excruciating to watch. There’s nothing great about a bad movie.

There are a lot of hit-and-miss films; that’s probably the bulk of what gets made. There are movies that aren’t bad per se but are annoying, offensive, boring, or just plain not your taste. But those aren’t movies that “suck.”

No, this author obviously knew what I know: if you say anything positive at all about the prequels, the internet zombies will arise from their graves to unleash their flames upon you. Saying that the prequels suck is just his way of laying cover fire for the rest of his post.

This is intellectually dishonest and cowardly. Have the guts to point out what’s good in the prequels without having to sop to what you think is popular opinion. I would have more respect for the opinion of someone who hates all of the movies with a passion than for a half-baked, half-hearted defense like the one I read.

New Plageuis Novel Blurb

Random House has posted a new blurb on James Luceno’s upcoming Darth Plagueis novel. I have to say, this sounds more and more promising all of the time!

Digital Yoda Clip From TPM

I guess it’s from the Blu-Ray, but here is TPM Yoda in his digital glory.

Darth Plageuis Short Story In Dec. Insider

Matthew Stover, who wrote the ROTS novelization among other Star Wars novels, will pen a Darth Plageuis short story for the Star Wars Insider. It’s slated to appear in the December issue, just in time for the James Luceno Darth Plageuis novel’s release.

Blu-Ray Details

Lucasfilm had a junket promoting the upcoming Blu-Ray release over the weekend. All kinds of cool things were revealed: restoring the movies to the theatrical scale, making fixes to both original shots and to DVD transfers, and “additional surprises!” Of course there are going to be surprises!

Home Theater Forum, The Digital Bits, and The HD Room have lots more detail.

Full Blu-Ray Extras Details?

I can’t say for certain it’s official since it originated with a fan who has a buddy in the video industry in Korea or something, but going around the web today is a listof the Blu-Ray set extras, including interviews and cut scenes. Hmm, what’s this about Yoda chatting with Qui-Gon in ROTS?

The New Beginning

Paul McDonald has a new Forcecast editorial called “The New Beginning: An Episode One Retrospective.” It captures how it was for me during the spring and summer of 1999! Do read it!